


Revitalization

by janetcarter



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27020290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janetcarter/pseuds/janetcarter
Summary: Zack has a surprise for Lyta.
Relationships: Lyta Alexander/Zack Allan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4
Collections: Fic In A Box





	Revitalization

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DownToTheSea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DownToTheSea/gifts).



It was odd how natural it had become for Lyta to find herself curled up on Zack’s couch after a long day. A film they’d seen a dozen times before played on the TV, its light dancing against the dark as Zack’s fingers absently stroked her hair. Under a soft, shared blanket, she felt whole for the first time since the Vorlons. Maybe not _as_ whole--that would be impossible--but it was something, and without their little hangouts she wasn’t sure what she’d do.

His kindness was easy to cling to. He was the only person on the station who didn’t look at her like she was a traitor or a monster, but… he was more than that, too. He was thoughtful, even if he wasn’t always bright. Most importantly, he liked her for her. A smile tugged at her lips just thinking about it, so much so she forgot the question she had asked half a minute prior.

“What I miss most about earth,” his answer began, “is probably this one sandwich place in Jersey.” He went into the details about all the ingredients they let you put on, the size it could get to, the burst of flavors… But she was paying more attention to the passion in his voice than the individual words. 

She looked up to his face, familiar features illuminated by the film. “You’ll have to take me there sometime.” 

“Next time I get enough paid leave to make the trip to earth, I will.” He said it with such a confident happiness, Lyta wasn’t sure how to react. Was he seriously offering something so expensive? Something so gutsy to plan for just the two of them? “What about you, Lyta? What do you miss about earth?”

“Um…” She shifted, casting her gaze to the floor. There were a couple things she missed about the Academy, which was where she’d spent most of her time earthside beyond a few commercial jobs. But Corps memories, no matter how joyous in the moment, were always tainted by hindsight. The only other time she’d spent on earth had been in a prison cell, and, well, movie night wasn’t the time to be a downer. She decided to spare him those intricacies and, instead, tapped into something else. “I think I miss the rain.”

It wasn’t a lie, either; growing up behind the tall pointed gates of the Academy, rain was always exciting. It was something new, something that connected them to an outside world they hardly ever got to see. The adults always corralled them back inside at the earliest drop, so the kids would gather around the windows and watch for lightning strikes if they weren’t hiding from booms of thunder. 

The windows were just another gate between them and everyone else, Lyta now realized. And, although her commercial jobs had provided a few _real_ walks in the rain, she wondered if she had any right to miss something she’d hardly experienced herself. 

“The rain?” he repeated. He always did that: ask a question too soon, squint and bite his lip, then slowly nod at whatever conclusion he’d drawn. She’d long ago learned to let him play his process out rather than interrupt. “You know, I do too. The gardens are nice, but it’s not the same, you feel me?” 

“Exactly.” Luckily, those commercial jobs gave her enough to work with. So, unlike with other normalities like fun holidays or family vacations (which she had a feeling Zack didn’t have much experience with either), she wouldn’t have to lie and pretend she knew what she was talking about. “I really took it for granted, too. The amount of times I’d show up for jobs soaked because I didn’t have an umbrella… I never took the time to just stop and appreciate the weather before moving here.” 

“Why didn’t you just buy one?” 

“An umbrella?”

“Yeah.”

“When I worked for the Corps, I never stayed in any one place too long. By the time I would’ve bought one, it would’ve been time for me to move on again.” She thought back to all the cities and colonies and planets where she’d lived, places she’d never stayed long enough to leave a mark on. No friends unless she counted avoidant work colleagues, no cafe employees that got to know her order, no permanence for someone whose life was controlled by the Corps. “And then I’d have to leave it behind.”

But maybe it was for the best. Mundanes hadn’t wanted her around back then anyway. And now, without the Corps, she was starting to think there was more to it than just her teep status; at least, for everyone but Zack. 

“Well, I’m glad you’ve stuck around here as long as you have,” he said. As his words battled her thoughts, he gently squeezed her arm in a way that made her heart flutter. 

All she could give to show for it was a weak smile. As much as she enjoyed Zack’s company, sometimes she thought it would’ve been better if she’d never been assigned this station. She would have continued her life without knowing any other normal, without knowing there were answers to questions invisible to the human eye. But after blending minds with a Vorlon, any other life was an impossible one to imagine. 

And, well, she had to admit she would miss having someone to watch movies with. It was just… it was more than that, wasn’t it? She wouldn’t just miss having another person around. She would miss _him._ And after her pattern of losing everything that had ever mattered to her, that realization was equal parts comforting and terrifying. 

So, despite the guilt of where her mind sometimes wandered, she curled up against his chest and focused on the warmth she’d never really had before: “Me too.” 

-

A couple weeks later she showed up at Zack’s door expecting another movie night. 

But instead of inviting her in, he stumbled out into the hallway, causing her hands to reflexively steady his arms. The suddenness of touch, even for someone who regularly used his chest as a pillow, prompted a sharp inhale. She was thankful his sleeves prevented an accidental scanning. “Zack? Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah.” His voice ventured just a note high enough to crack. Once he was standing on his own, he adjusted his collar and cleared his throat. “I’m fine. I just, uh, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

She knew better than to let actual excitement sink in too far; it just made the disappointments hit worse. But either way, it warmed her heart that he’d thought of her. “What is it?”

“Well, it’s a surprise! And it’s kinda far, so… you’ve gotta wear a blindfold.” 

“Zack, I have eyelids.” She really didn’t need more reason for people to stare at her, but his puppy-dog eyes were always hard to say no to. She sighed. “Okay, fine.” 

He grinned. “Great, turn around.”

“If it’s a restaurant, you know I can’t pay, right?”

“Not a problem,” he said, finishing tying the blindfold. “Just trust me.” 

As hard as it was to do that these days, the fact it was him somehow made it easier; even if he was the same guy who’d just tripped over himself. “Okay, I’ll trust you.”

“You can’t see out of there, right?”

“Nope.”

“Promise you can’t use your powers to, like, see with your mind?” 

“Zack, don’t be ridiculous.” It actually wasn’t too far off considering what she _could_ do, but she didn’t need him guessing she had gills just yet.

“Right, sorry, that was… Sorry.” She thought she heard something bang just before his door shut behind them. Before she could ask what it’d been, his hand gently took hers, giving her enough time to adjust her blocks but not enough to keep her heart from racing so fast she couldn’t form words. “Okay, let’s go.”

As kind as Zack was, he was a horrible guide. This was the fourth wall she’d almost walked into so far. So she asked him a question even she was tired of hearing by now: “How much farther?” 

“Just a minute…” 

This time, it’d been true. The atmosphere had changed from the usual stuffiness of the halls to something more open. She thought she could smell flowers, or at least the scent of wet grass. Did he really blindfold her to take her to the garden? There was a metallic noise she couldn’t quite place, and then a chirping, almost, followed by tiny, quiet splashes.

“Okay,” he said, a quiet excitement budding in his voice. For a moment she thought she’d dropped her blocks because she felt the same wonder in her own chest. “You can take off the blindfold now.”

It took a moment for her vision to adjust, but she couldn’t believe her eyes once it did. They were in the gardens, she’d gotten that right; but he’d gotten access to the sprinklers so it gave the illusion of rain. Except, they weren’t getting wet. She looked up and saw a black umbrella shielding them both, held up by Zack.

She was so touched by the fact he’d even remembered that conversation, let alone did all of _this,_ she struggled to find the right words. “Zack, I… This is amazing.”

“Yeah, I, uh, I got the umbrella shipped in from earth as fast as I could. One of the maintenance guys, Danny, he helped me put this all together.” He flashed the sprinkler access card before slipping it into his pocket. 

“You didn’t have to go through all the trouble, but…” An unfamiliar _I love you_ was on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to throw her arms around him, to press her lips against his, but she spoke instead. “I love it.” 

He grinned. “Wanna take a walk around?” 

“I’d love to.” 

-

At the end of the day, he left the umbrella in her quarters. _“As a good luck charm, you know? Somethin’ to help you stick around.”_

The thought of Babylon 5 as a home had never gotten the chance to get comfortable in her head. But as she looked at the umbrella, "raindrops" still resting on its surface, she thought maybe, just maybe, it couldn’t be so bad.


End file.
